Dawn Laguens on CNN: Donald Trump “Outed” the Anti-Abortion Movement
For Immediate Release: April 4, 2016
Washington, DC --- This morning, on CNN’s New Day, Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, weighed in on Donald Trump’s stance that women should be punished for having an abortion. She pointed out that while John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and the anti-abortion movement have tried to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s remarks, Donald Trump is just articulating the same platform all three have been pushing across this country.
Watch the full clip here: https://youtu.be/-65HJ64-q2w
“A plan to punish women who seek abortion in this country is not news, it's the Republican party platform.”
“Donald Trump just said more bluntly, as he is usual to do, that he supports the same dangerous and extreme agenda that Ted Cruz has voted on in the Senate and John Kasich has made the law of the land in Ohio.”
“I think the only outrage on the side of Cruz and of Kasich and the pro-life, or anti-abortion opponents, is that they have been outed by Donald Trump being kind of the Id of the Republican Party.”
“They [Ted Cruz, John Kasich and the anti-abortion movement] are horrified to have been outed for what they do every day, which is punish women that seek abortion. To back laws that tell doctors they must lie to women, to work to shut down clinics, to ban certain procedures that doctors say are important for women’s safety and health. All of these things. That’s what their agenda is day in and day out. They do punish women.”
“1 in 3 women in America has had an abortion. Are they going to punish them all?”
Since 2011, states have enacted nearly 300 laws restricting abortion --- passing 57 in the past year alone. In Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, abortion has been so severely restricted it may as well be illegal for a large number of women. Women are driving hundreds of miles and in some instances across state lines just to access abortion safely and legally.
Background: Ted Cruz and John Kasich pushed laws that punish women for seeking an abortion:
John Kasich has made Ohio a “Living Hell” for women seeking an abortion.
Kasich signed a medically unnecessary mandatory ultrasound law that would punish doctors for failing to comply: The 2013 budget that Kasich signed into law included a provision that requires that doctors test for a fetal heartbeat by giving a state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasound – even if women don’t want one, and if their doctor doesn’t recommend one. Then inform the patient seeking an abortion in writing of the presence of that heartbeat, and then provide statistical likelihood that the fetus could be carried to term. The doctor’s failure to do so would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail, for the first violation and a fourth-degree felony, carrying up to 18 months in jail, for subsequent violations. [Toledo Blade, 7/8/13]
Kasich enacted a law that makes it more difficult for rape victims to access abortion: “When Kasich was asked about a provision in the 2013 budget bill he signed that prohibits rape crisis counselors from telling victims that abortion is an option he wouldn’t answer why he signed the provision into law. He dodged the question, saying “We certainly want to care…. But look, at the end of the day, I’m going to do what I think is a pro-life — you know, looking, being in a position of being pro-life. There’s nothing more I can say about it. I’ve said everything there is to say about it.” [Wonkette, 10/29/14]
As a U.S. Rep., John Kasich supported legislation that would make it a crime for a minor to cross state lines to access abortion: “Among other anti-abortion bills he voted for during his House tenure were the Child Custody Protection Act, a 1998 bill that would have made it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, and a 2000 ban on partial-birth abortions, an uncommon late-term procedure.” [FiveThirtyEight, 12/2/15]
Under Gov. Kasich’s administration, nearly half of Ohio’s abortion providers have closed.
Think Progress:“In terms of the areas where high number of clinics have recently been shuttered, Ohio ranks second only to Texas. And Ohio isn’t stopping there. Aside from the proposed budget, lawmakers have also been advancing a 20-week abortion ban; the state senate approved that legislation just last week. For years, reproductive rights groups have been warning that Ohio is becoming one of the worst states for abortion access. At the end of last week, the Plain Dealer’s editorial board also sounded the alarm: “These draconian rules aimed at closing Ohio’s abortion clinics appear to be a thinly veiled effort to get before the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion,” the newspaper wrote in reference to the proposed budget bill”.
Ohio women are driving to Michigan to access abortion: “Michigan abortion clinics see an influx of Ohioans...Ms. Chilean said she began to notice women coming from Ohio to the Michigan clinics about two years ago when Ohio law changed and banned abortions after 22 weeks.” [Toledo Blade, 3/23/14]
Ted Cruz wants to outlaw abortion:
Ted Cruz wants to ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. According to the Houston Chronicle, “Cruz would allow abortion only in cases in which the mother’s life is in jeopardy: ‘Every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.’” [Houston Chronicle, 10/28/12]
Ted Cruz said that if elected he will nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade: “I will nominate judges committed to reversing Roe.” [Personhood Iowa, 10/5/15]
Has called Roe v. Wade a shadow in our nation’s history:In support of the 2015 March for Life, Senator Cruz called the anniversary of Roe v. Wade a “shadow in our nation’s history,” and reaffirmed his support for a 20-week abortion ban. “I remain a strong supporter of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act....” [Texas Right to Life, 1/22/2015]
Cruz signed Georgia Right to Life’s personhood affirmation, pledging his support for a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. [Georgia Right to Life Personhood Affirmation, Signed 7/27/15]
Cruz told Personhood Iowa that he would advocate for a constitutional amendment that protects life: “And to put an end to Roe once and for all, I will also advocate for a constitutional amendment that protects life.” [Personhood Iowa, 10/5/15]